In present day postage meters, detents are provided for the selector gears of the print wheels so that the print wheels may be accurately located and inhibited from inadvertent movement. Additionally, a locking member is provided so that the postage meter may not be tripped during the changing of the print wheels. The present trend in the postage meter field is to provide a mechanism for automatically setting a postage meter as opposed to the meter being set manually. An example of a mechanism for the automatic setting of a postage meter may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,070. It has been found that a problem has arisen with the automatic setting of postage meters in that the detent members which hold the selector gears in place tend to wear out more rapidly than has been the case with manually operable setting mechanisms. This is probably occasion by the automatic setting mechanism not having a "feel" for the detented members as the amount of postage is being changed, not being able to accommodate high speed setting, and because of the use of low force actuators such as stepper motors, solenoids and the like.